Saturday 5 October 1667

Up, and to the Office; and there all the morning; none but my Lord Anglesey and myself; but much surprized with the news of the death of Sir W. Batten, who died this morning, having been but two days sick. Sir W. Pen and I did dispatch a letter this morning to Sir W. Coventry, to recommend Colonel Middleton, who we think a most honest and understanding man, and fit for that place. Sir G. Carteret did also come this morning, and walked with me in the garden; and concluded not to concern [himself] or have any advice made to Sir W. Coventry, in behalf of my Lord Sandwich’s business; so I do rest satisfied, though I do think they are all mad, that they will judge Sir W. Coventry an enemy, when he is indeed no such man to any body, but is severe and just, as he ought to be, where he sees things ill done. At noon home, and by coach to Temple Bar to a India shop, and there bought a gown and sash, which cost me 26s., and so she [Mrs. Pepys] and Willet away to the ‘Change, and I to my Lord Crew, and there met my Lord Hinchingbroke and Lady Jemimah, and there dined with them and my Lord, where pretty merry, and after dinner my Lord Crew and Hinchingbroke and myself went aside to discourse about my Lord Sandwich’s business, which is in a very ill state for want of money, and so parted, and I to my tailor’s, and there took up my wife and Willet, who staid there for me, and to the Duke of York’s playhouse, but the house so full, it being a new play, “The Coffee House,” that we could not get in, and so to the King’s house: and there, going in, met with Knepp, and she took us up into the tireing-rooms: and to the women’s shift, where Nell was dressing herself, and was all unready, and is very pretty, prettier than I thought. And so walked all up and down the house above, and then below into the scene-room, and there sat down, and she gave us fruit and here I read the questions to Knepp, while she answered me, through all her part of “Flora’s Figary’s,” which was acted to-day. But, Lord! to see how they were both painted would make a man mad, and did make me loath them; and what base company of men comes among them, and how lewdly they talk! and how poor the men are in clothes, and yet what a shew they make on the stage by candle-light, is very observable. But to see how Nell cursed, for having so few people in the pit, was pretty; the other house carrying away all the people at the new play, and is said, now-a-days, to have generally most company, as being better players. By and by into the pit, and there saw the play, which is pretty good, but my belly was full of what I had seen in the house, and so, after the play done, away home, and there to the writing my letters, and so home to supper and to bed.

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Lord Ossory has been assured that Sir William Petty is bent upon doing the Duke some mischief; but he has not yet learned any particulars. The like rumours have been current concerning the intentions of other persons. Some, however, are of opinion that these rumours have grown out of an apprehension that it was the Duke's purpose to come over into England, that he might assist in the defence of the late Chancellor. _____

Petition of Eleanor [in MS.: "Ellinor"] Delamere, otherwise Petty, and others, to the Duke of Ormond on behalf of themselves, & of other Tenants of Lands, in the County of Westmeath, not herein namedWritten from: [Dublin]Date: [5 October] 1667

Recite the expulsion of petitioners from their respective holdings in Westmeath - and other injuries inflicted on them - by Quarter-master Henry Bridgeman of Lord Aungier's Troop of Horse, and by one John Gordon of the same Troop; and pray relief.

"...he's in Arthur's bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A' made a finer end and went away an it had been any christom child;

a' parted even just between twelve and one, even at the turning o' the tide: for after saw him fumble with the sheets and play with flowers and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a' babbled of green fields. 'How now, sir [Will]!' quoth I 'what, man! be o' good cheer.' So a' cried out 'God, God, God!' three or four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a' should not think of God; I hoped there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet: I put my hand into the bed and felt them, and they were as cold as any stone; then I felt to his knees, and they were as cold as any stone, and so upward and upward, and all was as cold as any stone." -Henry V.

"But, Lord! to see how they were both painted would make a man mad, and did make me loath them; and what base company of men comes among them, and how lewdly they talk! and how poor the men are in clothes, and yet what a shew they make on the stage by candle-light..."

Welcome to a life in theater, Sam. But what's more to marvel at than the idea that a foul-mouthed slut can become an virginal angel who brings one to tears and inspired devotion or an overweight prissy fellow can take on the nature of Caesar, braving all odds, or a bumbling kid or a fawning cynic become a charming and ardent lover for a few minutes on stage, eh? After all if Nelly and Betty Knipp can create Floras and angels from themselves and the mind of some drunken poet, there must be a little of that in them...Somewhere.

"Disappointed, Mr. Pepys?" suavely velvet voice...

"They're nothing like..." a fuming Sam...

"What you would wish them to be, yes. I so often note that reaction in those of you who venture backstage. One might suggest the true folly is that simple act of parting the curtain."

"Indeed, sir." Bess, beside Sam frowns.

"Indeed, ma'am. And you, young miss..." eyes the grave Deb behind Bess. "What do you say about it? Do you prefer the illusion or the reality?"

Deb nervously looking to Bess...

"Not willing to say, eh? Wise in your way. You should make a fine actress, yourself. Would you like to know what makes a fine actress, girl?"

Sam's psychopomp, his "Barbry Allen," leads her favorite puritan into the backstage demimonde. What a lovely glimpse into its bohemian badinage and tawdry glitz. Just wish he had relished it and had dwelled on it longer, but no, the puritan in him won out and he was repelled rather than enthralled.

It is meet and right to mark, with Robert Gertz, the passing from the world of the old salt by heredity and disposition, Sir William Batten -- a fixture in the life of Samuel Pepys since http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1660/05/25/ -- the day King Charles landed on the English shore (after his dog shat on the deck of the ship that brought them back) and the Duke of York first addressed "Mr. Pepys" by name.

Warrant, by the Duke of Ormond, to the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of the city of Dublin, for providing quarters for the Regiment of Guards, the Life-Guard of horse, and the Guard of Battleaxes, respectivelyWritten from: Dublin CastleDate: 5 October 1667

Had he been in England, Ormond would have been, in effect, in violation of the 1628 Petition of Right

The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. The Petition of Right was produced by the English Parliament in the run-up to the English Civil War. It was passed by Parliament in May 1628, and given the royal assent by Charles I in June of that year. The Petition is most notable for its confirmation of the principles that taxes can be levied only by Parliament, that martial law may not be imposed in time of peace, and that prisoners must be able to challenge the legitimacy of their detentions through the writ of habeas corpus. The Petition’s ban on the billeting of troops is reflected in the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petition_of_Right

On 4 November, Sir H. Cholmly will tell Pepys "the quartering of soldiers in Ireland on free quarters; which, it seems, is High Treason in that country, and was one of the things that lost the Lord Strafford his head [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wentworth,_... ], and the law is not yet repealed; which, he says, was a mighty oversight of him not to have it repealed, which he might with ease have done, or have justified himself by an Act." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1667/11/04/

"But, Lord! to see how they were both painted would make a man mad, and did make me loath them"

Pepys'reaction to "painting" was not unlike that of A discourse against painting and tincturing of women Wherein the abominable sinnes of murther and poysoning, pride and ambition, adultery and witchcraft are set foorth & discouered. Whereunto is added The picture of a picture, or, the character of a painted woman.Tuke, Thomas, d. 1657. Imprinted at London: By Thomas Creede and Bernard Alsop] for Edward Marchant, 1616.Early English Books Online [whole text]https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A14007.0001.0...